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Young75

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Posts posted by Young75

  1. On 10/26/2019 at 9:19 AM, chris722 said:

    People are excited about it.  That effort to force a referendum failed, so it is what it is.

    I agree that Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton are legit cities.  People always want to compare Norfolk to Richmond and state that Richmond is more of a city than Norfolk.  I can see the arguments both ways.  I think that Norfolk is urban for this region, but maybe not so much for other regions, and definitely not by West Coast or East Coast standards.  But I've been in plenty of Midwestern cities with density similar or less than Norfolk, and it is not a deal breaker for me.  

    You're right about Midwestern cities with casinos and how those economies are different.  For one Cleveland and Detroit aren't defined by tourism.  For another they're larger cities.  Fair enough.  

    The sad part about it is....look up pictures of Norfolk from the 1940s.. that’s the real Norfolk. It just needs to get back to its roots. There are small remnants of “old urban” and I can see your point. Those places on the coasts you referenced are more alive and that’s what I feel like it should be. We love our little city NORFOLK lol “Thout Shalt Grow”

  2. On 10/26/2019 at 11:52 AM, Mountain_Junior said:

    Young75, a couple of points:
    -Nothing happened to the name Tidewater. It’s still used. A lot. Go here (https://sccefile.scc.virginia.gov/Find/Business ) and search “tidewater”. This is just a search of Virginia businesses. You get 4,500 results. The problem is that Tidewater refers to a wider region. It means everything below the fall line of the rivers, which means the area where the water of the rivers can be affected by the ocean tides. See below map. Everything red is often considered Tidewater, but even this is disputed.
    See http://www.virginiaplaces.org/chesbay/11chesa.html

    f581f634ba9a16cd08778ff87796b5af.jpg

    -The name Hampton Roads is historic too and has been around since at least 1755. You know about the Monitor-Merrimack Bridge Tunnel of course. Those two ships fought in what’s called the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862.
    -The reason people sometimes incorrectly believe that Hampton Roads is a new name is that in 1983, local business people and civic leaders decided to try to get the region to start using some consistency in referring to the region as Hampton Roads. That year the Postal Service also switched the region’s post mark to Hampton Roads from Tidewater. But to be clear, the name did not originate in 1983. HRSD for instance was founded in the 1930s.
    -The idea that Tidewater is exclusive to us is also incorrect. A quick Google search shows that Georgia, Texas, and Florida all have locations and businesses that identify with the name Tidewater. Because it really refers to any area where the rivers are close enough to the ocean to be affected by tides. Hampton Roads on the other hand is exclusive to this region (although “Hampton” obviously isn’t).
    -Another point to remember is that many areas are part of multiple regions. Consider that Napa, CA is part of the Napa Valley, California Wine Country, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Boston is part of the Boston Metro Area, New England, the Northeast Corridor/Northeastern US. It’s perfectly okay for us to have “Tidewater”, aka the coastal areas of eastern Virginia and NC, and the Hampton Roads region, aka the cities and counties that border on or are located near the Hampton Roads waterway.

    I agree with your point that it can be confusing and I think you hit the nail on the head about the various cities. In my view, the problem is that we don’t have a leading city. Every city thinks it’s the leader. Norfolk/Portsmouth is the jobs center and historical core. Virginia Beach has the biggest population. Suffolk is the largest. Hampton is an old settlement and the roadstead’s namesake. Newport News is the oldest English city name in the entire Americas.

    At the very minimum, no city will acknowledge that any other city is the region’s leader. That means that they will never come together to jointly fund the big projects that make regions, like a hub airport, sports arena, regional transit, a large entertainment venue, regional multi-use trail system, etc.

    Contrast this with somewhere like the Delaware Valley Region, which has 350 member cities and counties in its planning commission. The reason they can achieve big things is because Philadelphia is the leading city. It sets the agenda and gets what it needs. While Philadelphia can’t just do whatever it wants, the other cities and towns understand that their livelihood is tied to Philadelphia and as goes Philadelphia, so goes the region. It is the regional hub for transportation, cultural events, and commerce. When people from around there travel they say they’re from Philadelphia. In short, it is not in their interest to seriously undermine Philadelphia.

    We don’t have that here. No mayor is paying his people’s tax dollars to build some big project in another city unless it has a tangible return like in the case of the regional jail. If it’s something that just “makes the region better”, like a big airport or industrial park, people will see that as a betrayal. It would be political suicide. It’s why we’ve tried like 15 times to build a big stadium. It’s why we have 5 little airports instead of a hub. It’s why we have small minor league sports with city names instead of pro-level teams with regional names (ever heard of the New England Patriots or Carolina Panthers?).

    Further, the lack of counties between our cities means there is no neutral ground where cities can jointly fund big projects. Look at the locations of Research Triangle Park and RDU airport in between Wake and Durham counties. That location is no accident - because they also have no leading city.

    Bottom line for me: the lack of clarity between Tidewater, Hampton Roads, Coastal Virginia, America’s First Region, etc is only a symptom of our disunity and will continue no matter how many times we rebrand until we have a leading city (which won’t happen). Or until we unite into a leading city. It’s not because some group in 1983 decided on Hampton Roads or because people have ignored the name Tidewater.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Okay I understand the name Hampton Roads is historic I accept your point. When I referenced the area being exclusively being called “Tidewater” I was speaking more in general. There is no other metro area in the US that uses Tidewater was my point. I can understand referencing historical facts but we’re talking about branding. Honestly I think most people miss the point in the semantics of all this. I 

    Which actually makes me want to make an important footnote. I’m glad you brought up the subject about any “leading city”. I would like to get to the real fundamentals of all this here. IMO the reason why this region has no leading city is rascim. Period. Norfolk is that but the state politics aren’t working for it. There was another post that someone else posted I think it was in the Portsmouth forum about how Norfolk and Portsmouth growth was basically “boxed in” because of some loophole in this states politics. Virginia Beach and Chesapeake both decided to “become cities” in the 60s (think about that time period...let it marinate) After all that madness about Brown vs Board of Education in the 50s that set off the white flight. Then they erect these horrible monuments in the middle of the city honoring LOSERS in an effort to what?? Scare US (btw I’m black) Let’s get specific....South Norfolk merged with Lower Norfolk County because BOTH Norfolk and Portsmouth were annexing land in that time period. Those rascist people and those walking around complicit in it are the reason the region looks like it does. Let’s take it to Newport News??It’s not a surprise that all the money and investment is concentrated in Oyster Point and points Northward rather than downtown. Hampton??? Just look up “Hampton is Burning” that will tell you all you need to know.  We know why people RUN to places like Poquosun and Pungo lol So some white people who decided they didn’t want their kids to associate with me because of the color of my skin is the reason why the political lines look like they do. It’s the “Original Gerrymandering” except these lines are permanent and Virginia mastered it. Virginia could be waaaaaay more than it is but we are going in the RIGHT direction lol Even Richmond. Richmond is a beautiful city that should look better than it does but this state has been historically rascist. Just like America’s history ....rascist 1619 IN THIS HARBOR . Any other excuse is just being blind to the facts. So that same “disunity” that you speak of is a legacy that.....like the name Tidewater isn’t specific to this area but runs within America. 

     

    On a lighter note I think the region is going in the right direction. The cities seem to be cooperating and thankfully this area is actually more diverse than given credit for. The lines exist how they do now and the cities will slowly be more unified as time goes on. That “Us them” mentality is slowly fading and younger generations just want to move freely between the cities no matter what the dominant name is. I think the cities will slowly just gain recognition by themselves kind of like Dallas FtWorth or NYC everyone knows the 5 boroughs accept everyone wont know all of HR but they could name 2 (Norfolk/Va Beach) off the top. 

     

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  3. What happened to the name Tidewater? I see nothing wrong with it. No place has the name and it has historical significance. Literally the marshes could be a big answer to sea level rise. Maybe this might be an unpopular opinion but whoever or whatever group of people that got together and thought “Hampton Roads” was a good name is sadly mistaken. I hate that name with a passion lol. So Hampton is the biggest city? No. Oh it’s Virginia Beach...oh so that’s the major city...not quite it’s beach suburb that just has more land. Norfolk and Newport News are the real major cities but it’s named after Hampton? You mean in NY? England? NO Virginia ...What? It’s just makes no sense. Roads? To where? (Yes I understand what it refers to but I’m making a point here lol) Coastal Virginia doesn’t do it for me guys sorry. It’s sounds like the magazine. It’s BLAND. Not to mention what about NE NC? They are not VA but historically tied to Tidewater. This is the problem IN THIS AREA. We need to take back our ORIGINALITY.  Isn’t this the FIRST REGION? Tidewater is an original name with actual historical weight. I honestly don’t think any other name will fit and I’m so tired of always having to refer to the whole damn state of Virginia. This is TIDEWATER.

  4. 7 hours ago, baobabs727 said:

    I really hate the name. Redundant & derivative. Adding an "e" to the second word is gilding a lilly that is actually more of a carnation. How silly. Trying way  too hard. I don't even like the street name or the way they've spelled it. Again derivative. Faux panache. Très bourgeois. 

    I agree. I’m very curious on how this will turn out. I just don’t understand why the mindset here is so bland. The new headquarters building is “nice” but for it to be a top Fortune 500 company I just would expected them to  build something more iconic. Maybe I’m just bitter because I want to see taller buildings lol. This is a nice project for Chesapeake but the name sounds like another upscale apartment complex (not really) in Chesapeake lol Is this a business district? Future downtown?  Town Center?...actually I’m not even sure what town center is lol I’m kinda confused now lol. It’s like this is more of a company being able to spend whatever they want and not really the “City of Chesapeake ” deciding it wants to build a CBD/downtown. If they really wanted to do that they would put the municipal center in the CENTER of the city. I love all 7 cities but Chesapeake and Va Beach just grinds my gears lol they operate like counties/suburbs but are called cities. It doesn’t make sense and that explains why these types of things don’t make sense here. Dollar Tree seems like it would work better with Virginia Beach with its “vision” wanting to be Norfolk**cough I mean a city but wait Dollar Tree used to be headquartered in Norfolk? This place is a mess but I digress lol

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  5. 16 hours ago, Norfolk757Kid said:

    There's plenty of other potential uses for the land. The Pamunkeys are just the first to throw a legitimate offer in the ring. With the economy booming and SPQ getting going, we were bound to see other proposals for that land. Agreed that activating the riverfront and land in between Waterside and Harbor Park should spur new development, but I'm afraid that a casino could also drive away certain development and businesses that would have viewed the area around Harbor Park as attractive before a casino was there. 

    Well there is that African Museum/Hotel proposal that the city kind of side swiped And I’m not sure what that’s about. Also the city seems very intent on doing something with the property so I like the mindset. I think the momentum is key. Dont forget that Fort Norfolk has yet to be developed. Thats a nice chunk of waterfront property that actually has a better value than the land by Harbor Park and it’s just more land in general. I just don’t want them to mess it up with some mid rise boring developments lol. Let the waterfront have the tall buildings. Kind of like the Chicago skyline or Miami.

    18 hours ago, EJ_LEWIS said:

    Its worth pointing out that Detroit saw the largest increase in jobs in the whole US.  Not sure if the casino had anything to do with it, but the area around the casino in both Detroit and Windsor Ontario is booming.  The same could happen to Norfolk a plot of land that is doing nothing for the city right now.  

    Wow they don’t make as much noise when it’s actually positive. That’s good to hear. Yea and it’s actually perfect for tourists. The light rail, Amtrak and highway are right there. It’s  a win-win. 

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  6. The city needs to use some big city style politics and just build it. Forget them. This area will study you to death and still not do anything lol These people should not be allowed to stop progress. I feel like these are the same people that think single family suburban neighborhoods (Ghent Square and whatever that area is through Llewellyn) is acceptable in downtown. (I do like the trees tho) It’s NOT. These people have suburban mindsets in a place that calls itself the URBAN CORE. Please MOVE OUT OF NORFOLK if you don’t want to be in a CITY. I was reading a review at an apartment building in downtown Norfolk. They complained about noise outside.....why would you move to downtown then? I’m praying that they fail one way or the other in the end lol

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  7. This makes me think of that project the owners of MacArthur Center are doing. Aren’t the owners of MacAurthur suppose to be expanding that last anchor space? I’ve did some digging on the site but can only find the same renderings. They need to hurry up lol This also reminds me of Denver Pavilions. I took a screenshot of it on google maps. It’s hard to get a good aerial angle because of density. Nordstrom leaving might not be so bad. You could do a lot with that space if you think outside the box. Density, Density, Density! 

    9D24209D-F219-47F7-A4CA-D3F8E6D4795A.jpeg

  8. If they leave the scope then they need to capitalize on Military Circle/Janaf. That seems like the only place to put a large or even a complex of arenas in Norfolk itself. This area definitely can support all major league franchises. I’m also loving the glass for the venue. Harmony seems to stand out with the shapes! 

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  9. On 2/2/2019 at 9:25 AM, vdogg said:

    Literally every time something big is about to happen in this area. I've really come to despise that newspaper.

    I don’t have much knowledge on the Virginian Pilot and this is irrelevant but it’s just so plain “Virginian” lol Why can’t Norfolk have it’s name in its newspaper? Why do we have to carry the rest of state all the time it’s like dillons law seeps it’s way into everything. 

  10. On 2/14/2019 at 1:07 PM, Willy18 said:

    The Tide clearly has a station in this building. Also, the renderings look like they have change from a Lego looking concept to a glass structure. 

     

    image.png.710931c13dde41e64a8ed3fd2e6678d2.png

     

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    I love the conecpt actually it’s almost like these guys were in my head. Norfolk has so much land yet to be used to its potential. I just hope they make it blend in with the neighborhoods. Honestly that whole quadrant is just a mess of roads. It needs comprehensive zoning and not just that block.....AND let me say that I DONT WANT TO SEE GENTRIFICATION IN NORFOLK. Let’s just say that RIGHT NOW. I don’t want these guys coming in then all of a sudden and now people who grew up and these places loose out. It’s happening everywhere that’s always the side-effect to development boom but it seems like Norfolk is BOSSING UP! Lol

  11. On 2/14/2019 at 10:44 PM, BFG said:

    That's an event I've started marking my calendar for, because the last two years had some good stuff. Although I'm disappointed Norfolk is letting the Scope renovations quietly fall off.

    I'm gonna be like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for April 19th!

    I am doing the exact same thing! Lol Every year they bring more and this stuff is actually happening. I agree on the scope ...what happened? That’s actually a component this area really needs and that’s a stadium that seats 18000+ guests. HR has the population and can attract the events. 

  12. On 2/12/2019 at 7:22 AM, Willy18 said:

    Personally, I don't think they should limit the height to any building in that district. Having an urban district with varying building heights makes it look "less planned out". There's nothing wrong with having a 4 story unit next to a 15+ story building. If there is demand and you have developer with interest, let them build. Streamline/shorten the approval process of structures and get out of the way of progress. 

    Yes! The variation of buildings is actually what makes a skyline. The city has a lot of momentum with these projects. I love this!

  13. On 1/31/2019 at 8:38 PM, Cjnfkvb said:

    It would be nice if light rail ran to the ocean front, and it should have happened,  but the city treasurer, and a few of his friends somhow convinced a slew of voters at the beach to vote against it.  It seems efforts to run light rail to greenbriar are in the works, but I fear we are in for the same story. Our region has extreamly  vocal naysayers, and a good chunk of those who would support thease projects are transiant citizens who only live in the region temporarily and therefore dont vote, because they simply dont care about this place. We need a good regional transportation network, if we want to convince people that this is a good place to move to permanently.  The city's of hampton roads all rely on each other and need to work together if they want to amount to anything. 

    It’s so funny how we have to be so politically correct but I agree 100%. I really feel like there’s an elephant in the room ...light Rail= urban ...Urban = Diversity .....and who loves diversity....right? LOL I will continue to be optimistic and the greenbrier option would be great but yea you run into the same “territory” VA Beach and Chesapeake shouldn’t even be cities but I digress lol

  14. 36 minutes ago, Norfolk757Kid said:

    It seems like luring Amazon made the state look at public transportation and light rail in a different light, not to mention higher education. Even Virginia Beach's proposal touted a potential light rail extension! Hopefully it takes less than a generation to implement.

    Yea I thought that was interesting and why not put together a regional package? Why not build all the way to the Oceanfront? Why not make it more appealing than selling the name “beach” but I digress lol All roads lead back to Virginia Beach it seems.

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  15. On 1/26/2019 at 12:28 PM, BFG said:

    I couldn't find this specific project, but there's apartments planned at the foot of the Campostella Bridge, across from the Hardee's. One of my FB friends who's a property manager posted pictures of the vacant lot, and said this is set to open around 2020.

    apts.jpg

    I’m always happy to hear more developments but does everything have to look the same? It’s just so suburban. That’s some nice waterfront property they could at least give us 10 floors lol

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  16. 13 hours ago, BFG said:

    And to make this even closer to home (no pun intended), as of last October, MGM Grand in DC became MGM's 5th-highest revenue maker, with nearly $200M in the 3rd quarter of 2018.

    https://wtop.com/business-finance/2018/10/mgm-national-harbor-is-mgms-5th-highest-revenue-generator/

    One reason Governor Northam is pushing for casinos is to keep Virginians from leaving for West Virginia, Delaware, or DC/MD. If the General Assembly wants to lose out on that revenue, they deserve to get voted out.

    I say include the pun LOL. Virginia has been loosing on that casino revenue front for a while.  People flock to these places just to go to the casino. I bet there’s a good percentage of ppl who go there that are probably from VA. All that money that “could” be spent here and they drag their feet??? I don’t get it.

  17. On 1/29/2019 at 6:26 PM, lammius said:

    It is ridiculous, but there's an army of urban gondola enthusiasts pitching them all over the U.S.  The promise is that it's cheap, requires *no* land, and offers a better level of service than surface transit modes.  It can rarely deliver any of those three promises.  

    In addition for finding places for the poles (you need 2 meters, which is basically the better part of a traffic lane), you need to site stations.  To do that within the public ROW is going to be difficult to do (look at the pic below!).  So ridiculous station construction and/or property acquisition to build the bloody stations is thrown in the cost formula.

    Seaport-gondola-system-proposal.jpg

     

    And then there's the travel time.  These things average a measly 11 mph (including multiple stops on a line-haul route).  To go from downtown Norfolk to NOB at 11 mph, that's a 45 minute trip.  Gondolas are good for getting over a physical barrier (a mountainside, occasionally a river, etc.), for a short distance (a mile or two tops).  As a mode of urban transport in a flat and relatively un-dense city, and for such a long distance, it's ridiculous.  The only reason not to build LRT on Norfolk's west side is because you're trying to be cheap.  

    I believe it’s a case by case basis. That’s why they do the “study” LOL but I’m sure a lot of people probably think Light Rail is ridiculous in a city like Norfolk but it’s here! Honestly the fact that Norfolk built up the courage to build something like it did and for no other city to be on board considering most of the population can’t access it is amazing but I lift it up and be positive. I’m sure every innovation you see today was probably called ridiculous but it’s more than being cheap the city can’t afford that alone. Also the city has to do extensive rezoning and planning on the East Side for it to truly work. Light Rail in downtown wasn’t the same “beast” as it is on the East Side. 

    23 hours ago, Urbanlooker said:

    The only place I could see the gondolas it to cross the river from Dowtown to Portsmouth, maybe connecting the 2 casinos if they get built. 

    I think this would complement both cities well being on the river with the view and all.

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  18. On 1/28/2019 at 7:25 PM, BFG said:

    I looked at a few more pictures online...I wonder how this could work if you had an urban gondola at the end of the light rail line at EVMS. From there, take the gondola along Hampton Blvd., to ODU and the base. The vacant Maglev track on campus could be a stop with a platform.

    That’s ideally where it would pick up at but everything is so Narrow on Hampton blvd it’s hard to say. Now that I think of it I think ODU should have tried this a long time ago instead of Maglev being that ski lifts were already a thing especially since it’s a short distance but I get it. I will give ODU credit for being trying to be Innovative tho. 

  19. On 1/29/2019 at 7:15 PM, Norfolk757Kid said:

    East Side is still the safer option for the city. Ground is higher and light rail can be used as a development tool, whereas the West Side will continue to develop with or without light rail. 

    I agree. I think there is A LOT to be done on the East Side of the city. There are a few things that halted Light Rail on the East Side tho. The fact that you have to get the light rain over top 64...AND that’s the flight path! Not to mention they just spent all that time redoing the intersection on Military Highway. They would have to do some serious winding like they did in Downtown thru that neighborhood but they STILL have to run it over top 64. Stuff like that brings up the cost even more. I think light rail won’t expand until it has serious regional dialogue about how it will help the region as a whole.

    On 1/29/2019 at 7:20 PM, BFG said:

    I've seen so many proposals I lost count. Would bus rapid transit still be an option for the East Side? Or is that gonna have the same problem as light rail?

    Well you don’t have to build tracks overtop of 64 but it’s really not much space over there without doing some serious rezoning and planning.

  20. On 1/28/2019 at 5:58 PM, Cjnfkvb said:

    I like your thinking but, where would it run? The problem with gondolas downtown is that Norfolks downtown is extremely compact. I can walk across downtown E>W or N>S in less than 15 minutes. However,  I do think this can be a great option to connect ODU to downtown (considering the city is no longer pursuing a western LRT alignment). Are there any other routes where this can potentially work? Maby the ocean front?

    Thanks and that’s  the thing! I love Norfolk but I don’t get how small “downtown Norfolk” really is. The mall takes up valuable blocks that used to be a walkable street grid. What’s considered St Paul should be also downtown but I think it’s better for a city wide concept rather than just downtown. Light Rail pretty much gets downtown well until Neon District/St Paul’s expands.

  21. Hey Guys I’m TY. This is my first time speaking on here but I’ve looked at these forums over the years and never commented. I’m from the area but I was a navy kid so Ive been back and forth all my life. I always thought this area has so much more potential and seeing the recent developments makes me excited which brings me to something that I’ve seen and think we should bring to Norfolk. Okay so finally ...URBAN GONDOLAS. I don’t have any links I just watched videos on YouTube and seen that a city in Mexico has implemented them and they seem to be a hit. Also Austin, NYC and Boston are  is considering the same. The Norfolk light rails biggest issue is cost. Building over water costs more and not to mention the NS train tracks. Pylons in-between the median flying over the traffic with views is a nice commuting option. Also it’s CHEAPER! Maybe Va Beach may consider this idk but even potentially getting it over Portsmouth and the rest of HR. I think this in combination with regionalism and improving the HRT as a whole (SN: which include rebranding the name HR lol) could help AAAAND it’s Eco Friendly! Which is what mass transit is anyway but it just seems like a no brainier but I’m a millennial so what do I know right?! Lol  

     

    Sorry if the font is so huge this is my first time guys lol 

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